Guinness Stew for St. Patrick’s Day

Guys, the anxiety I had over making this dish was insane. That probably sounds super bizarre, but let me explain. (And I, too, hate lengthy paragraphs before a recipe, but this is essential.)

For some reason, I thought this was going to be a simple stew to make. Carrots? Check. Stewing meat? Check. Celery? Check. Etc. However, I was very wrong in assuming the simplicity of the meal.

In my defense, I rarely cook with beer and Guinness, in general, is kind of bitter (in the same way dark chocolate is in comparison to milk chocolate). Plainly speaking: I wasn’t accustomed to cooking with the ingredient and needed to play around with the recipe a bit.

After a few trials, it wound up being delicious and I’m excited to share it on my blog. With all of that being said, I hope you enjoy my Guinness Stew, and happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️

Ingredients

• 2 lbs stewing meat, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used chuck roast)
• 5 slices of bacon, diced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 c. yellow onion, diced
• 2 c. carrots, sliced
• 1 c. celery, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1, 6 oz can tomato paste
• 2 c. Guinness beer
• 1 oz dark chocolate (I used 70% dark)
• 2 c. beef broth
• 1 tsp rosemary, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 c. brown sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Add the olive oil to a large dutch oven and heat on medium. Sauté the bacon in the olive oil until rather crispy and then remove and set aside. Add the stewing meat to the pot and brown on all sides after adding the salt and pepper. Once browned, remove the meat from the pot and set aside.

Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and keep sautéing until the garlic is very aromatic. Add the flour to the vegetables and combine. Once combined, add the tomato paste and mix thoroughly.

Add the Guinness and beef broth and bring to a simmer. Add the bacon and stewing meat back into the pot. Next, stir in the dark chocolate until melted. Bring to a boil. Stir in the rosemary, bay leaves, and brown sugar.

Once boiling, remove the stew from the stove and place in the oven for 2 hours.

Serve over mashed potatoes and enjoy!